One side effect: Death!

Yesterday wasn’t quite as “yucky” as the previous few, but it certainly wasn’t nice. We got a little rain last night, and we should be getting off and on showers about all day today. Now, tomorrow. We are very hopeful for some change then. I hope that nice, warm weather begins early enough for my body to feel a lot more like exercising. Then, of course, weather guy Kevin has to add that there’s a chance of afternoon thundershowers right into Monday. At least realistic hope is there.

This is the last Wednesday of June. My goodness! Where did June go? Well, it still has some time left as it doesn’t end until next Tuesday. It’s just the way the days fall that makes today the last Wednesday of the month. (Yes, FF, you guessed it.)

The significance of this day is, of course, the lunch engagement that my little group of retired seniors has. We get together today to swap stories, discuss some local sports and the Red Sox, get the latest gossip on our former workplace, and things like that. I think our Legislator should be back from Augusta to join us once again. If he does, there’s a good chance we’ll have a full complement.

I know you’ve seen those health commercials on the television. But do you really listen to them? One that’s prominently being displayed currently is for a woman’s contraceptive. I won’t mention the name but if the pill were a human, it would have been playing left field for the Red Sox a few years back.

I haven’t really put any timer on the thing, but at least 85% percent of it gives an endless list of reasons why women shouldn’t take it. It ends with, “Ask your doctor about (it).” If I were a woman, I wouldn’t even put a package of the stuff in my hands to read about it. It must have passed the FDA inspection, though or it wouldn’t be on the market.

That’s just one of the commercials for health products that contains all those warning notices. Just as soon as I hear that one of the possible side effects is death, I shut the darn thing off in my ears. It seems like most of them have that one, too.

I don’t think I’ve ever asked my doctor about a specific medicine. Now that I think of it, that’s not totally true. My Fearless Friend has told me several times that he takes a specific over-the-counter medication to sooth his arthritis pain. Since my events back in 2001, I never take medication of any type, prescription or OTC, without the expressed approval of my physician.

So I asked my PCP about that OTC med FF uses. Absolutely not, he said. It would interact with one of my heart medicines. The only OTC pain relief he would approve was Tylenol. So my pain continues. Later I began having some sleep problems and once again FF had a suggested remedy which should fit right in with my doc’s list. Tylenol PM. I liked that as it had as its base the only pain reliever I was permitted to use.

I wouldn’t just take it, though. I put it on my “ask” list for my next doc visit. It didn’t make the cut. The Tylenol part was just fine, but that tiny bit of sleep help was a no-no. He did volunteer, though, that there was one generic sleeping aid I could try. I did and I slept. So on my next visit, I asked about a pain reliever. He knew of one of those, too, and gave me another prescription for a generic. It does help relieve pain.

I must tell you that I’m very cautious about using them. Most all of those first prescriptions remain on my pill shelf as I have this terrible fear of addiction. At least I always ask my doctor.

GiM